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Fernando Gonzalez Fernando Gonzalez
The honorary consul of Malaysia, Fernando González Nicolás, affirmed that the Dominican Republic offers an attractive business and investment climate.
He affirmed that the country’s economy is based on pillars such as the tourism sector, which attracted more than 10 million tourists last year.
The free trade zones continue to make the Dominican Republic the world’s leading exporter of quality cigars, as well as the manufacture of medical equipment.
Another sector that influences the country’s economy is mining, and one of the largest gold mines in the world operates in the country.
He indicated that the Dominican Republic is beginning to stand out in the Caribbean and the Americas as a distribution center for goods and services. The country’s privileged geographic location and infrastructure facilitate its leadership.
The DR is a rough place to do business because the Dominican legal system is corrupt. If you have a dispute with a Dominican you will always lose in court.
But what about the banks ? My own experience opening a small business : 1. Banco Popular wanted to see my old passport because my new one had only one entry in it. Otherwise all the requirements were met. They refused to tell me why it was necessary to see the old passport. 2. Scotiabank accepted without problem to open a business account; but then said they did not allow any international money transfers for three months ! So how do you do business internationally ?
Yesterday at 12:26 PM
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Foreign investors report numerous systemic problems in the Dominican Republic and cite a lack of clear, standardized rules by which to compete and a lack of enforcement of existing rules. Complaints include allegations of widespread corruption; requests for bribes; delays in government payments; weak intellectual property rights enforcement; bureaucratic hurdles; slow and sometimes locally biased judicial and administrative processes, and non-standard procedures in customs valuation and classification of imports. Weak land tenure laws and government expropriations without due compensation continue to be a problem. The public perceives administrative and judicial decision-making to be inconsistent, opaque, and overly time-consuming. Corruption and poor implementation of existing laws are widely discussed as key investor grievances.
U.S. businesses operating in the Dominican Republic often need to take extensive measures to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Many U.S. firms and investors have expressed concerns that corruption in the government, including in the judiciary, continues to constrain successful investment in the Dominican Republic.
In August 2020, President Luis Abinader became the 54th President of the Dominican Republic, presiding over the first change in power in 16 years. Taking office with bold promises to rein in corruption, the government quickly arrested a slew of high-level officials from the previous administration implicated in corruption—people who under prior governments would have been considered untouchable. It remains to be seen whether Abinader will deliver on more complex commitments, such as institutional reforms to advance transparency or long-delayed electricity sector
We need to make major changes…..start with basic ethical standards.
Foreign investors report numerous systemic problems in the Dominican Republic and cite a lack of clear, standardized rules by which to compete and a lack of enforcement of existing rules. Complaints include allegations of widespread corruption; requests for bribes; delays in government payments; weak intellectual property rights enforcement; bureaucratic hurdles; slow and sometimes locally biased judicial and administrative processes, and non-standard procedures in customs valuation and classification of imports. Weak land tenure laws and government expropriations without due compensation continue to be a problem. The public perceives administrative and judicial decision-making to be inconsistent, opaque, and overly time-consuming. Corruption and poor implementation of existing laws are widely discussed as key investor grievances.
U.S. businesses operating in the Dominican Republic often need to take extensive measures to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Many U.S. firms and investors have expressed concerns that corruption in the government, including in the judiciary, continues to constrain successful investment in the Dominican Republic.
In August 2020, President Luis Abinader became the 54th President of the Dominican Republic, presiding over the first change in power in 16 years. Taking office with bold promises to rein in corruption, the government quickly arrested a slew of high-level officials from the previous administration implicated in corruption—people who under prior governments would have been considered untouchable. It remains to be seen whether Abinader will deliver on more complex commitments, such as institutional reforms to advance transparency or long-delayed electricity sector.